


the cigarette burns forever (the message is spliced together)

by enby_gerrydelano (Starful_nights)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: It/Its Pronouns For Michael Shelley (The Magnus Archives), It/Its Pronouns For Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), Other, a bit of identity related angst, also gerry n shelley were the big will-they-wont-they, but theyre gonna go leitner hunting now so its all fine <3, its not a new thing for it, just to clarify, then gertrude happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29200410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starful_nights/pseuds/enby_gerrydelano
Summary: You try to make yourself more human-shaped, Shelley-shaped, but then you decide against it. You aren't really it anymore, after all.Michael meets Shelley's closest friend.
Relationships: Gerard Keay & Michael | The Distortion, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), possibly in the future - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	the cigarette burns forever (the message is spliced together)

**Author's Note:**

> posting this real quick before i get fucking annihilated by 193 and forget :)) i have no idea what timeline this is set in and at this point i dont even care

You almost remember him. Your yellow door opens in the alleyway you feel like you always associated with him when you were still Michael Shelley. He sighs.

"For God's sake," he says, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "Come out, Distortion. I hope you have a Leitner."

You try to make yourself more human-shaped, Shelley-shaped, but then you decide against it. You aren't really it anymore, after all.

"Hello," you say. The cigarette falls out of his mouth and bounces a few times, setting fire to a stray piece of paper. He doesn't notice.

"Michael? Is that you?"

"I suppose," you say, and he scowls.

"Who are you then, if you're not Michael?"

His words cut deeper than you thought they would. You knew you were really Shelley anymore, of course, but having someone else tell it to you, someone who you think Shelley might have cared for a lot...

"I wouldn't say I'm really a who, anymore," you shrug, hiding your heart's pain behind a too-large grin. "I'm more of a what, I think."

Gerard--the name comes back to you suddenly with the surprised blinks he makes that are just like--something you don't remember--fumbles for another cigarette and stomps out the fire that he only noticed right now, apparently.

"Okay, then. Uh...still it/its?"

You shrug again. You never really thought about it before.

"I suppose. I...Shelley always liked it. I'm not Shelley, I know that, but I'm not anyone else, either." Some of your doubts creep into your voice. Gerard seems to think.

"Michael--your name is Michael, right?" You nod. "Michael, who did this to you?"

Your laugh is otherworldly as always, but hollower than usual. 

"Who else? Gertrude Robinson."

Gerard's face sets into a hard line, and the eyes on his knuckles shine bright. If his phone didn't chime, you think he would've gone and Known her into oblivion himself. 

You take it in one long, bony hand and offer it to him. Gerard shakes his head. 

"You're more important."

You can feel your kaleidoscopic face heat up...or, well, cool down, but it would be a blush if you were still Shelley.

"Why do you still care about me? I'm not it, not really. I don't even know what you meant to me."

Gerard checks his phone and in doing so, brushes one hand against your long, bony ones. Humans are so warm, you think, and you almost start wondering what having warm blood must have been like before Gerard throws down what remained of his cigarette and stomps on it, cursing.

"I swear to-"

"What is it, Gerard?"

"Gerry."

A memory of a memory stirs inside you. 

"But we aren't friends...are we?"

"Think of it as a promise," Gerry says, and the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. "Anyways, I should go. Apparently someone has found a Leitner in Wales. I should get there as soon as possible." He looks at you pointedly.

"You cannot seriously be suggesting what I think you are," you say, dumbfounded. Nobody has ever _wanted_ to go into your corridors, through all of the Distortion's existence. 

"Would you let me get lost?"

"Never."

"Well, then." He brushes the brick dust off his clothes, looking deeply into your eyes that aren't brown anymore. 

"You said you don't know who you are anymore, right? And that I don't know you anymore?"

You nod, wordless and confused. Where is he--Gerry, the name feels sweet im your head--going with this?

"I say we get to know each other, hmm? Now come on, the Leitner won't burn itself."

**Author's Note:**

> leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed!


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